Leadership Theories and Styles

Leadership:
_ is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals.
_ Not all leaders are managers, nor are all managers leaders.
_ Nonsanctioned (unofficial) leadership is often as important or more important than
formal influence.
Trait theories of leadership focus on personal qualities and characteristic (traits).
Good leaders: (common)
 Like being around people (social).
 Are able to assert themselves (extraverted – extroversion).
 Are disciplined and able to keep commitments they make (conscientious).
 Are creative and flexible (open).
 Emotional intelligence. A core component of EI is empathy.
Two conclusions:
 Traits can predict leadership.
 Traits do a better job predicting the emergence of leaders and the appearance of
leadership than actually distinguishing between effective and ineffective
leaders.
 Trait theories help us predict leadership, but they don’t fully help us explain
leadership.
Behavioral theories of leadership (Ohio State) imply (ngụ ý) we can train people to
be leaders.
 Initiating structure (clarity=clear, specificity): support employees in order to
solve their problem, define and structure his or her role and those of employees
in the search for goal attainment.
 Consideration (empathy-đồng cảm): being approachable, understanding.
+ The GLOBE study suggests there are international differences in preference for
initiating structure and consideration.
Summary:
__Leaders who have certain traits and who display culturally appropriate
consideration and structuring behaviors do appear to be more effective.
_ Traits and behaviors do not guarantee success.
_ Context matters too.

The least preferred coworker (LPC) questionnaire:
 Task- or relationship-oriented (leadership style)
 Assumes leadership style is fixed.
The Fiedler contingency model: effective group performance depends upon (is
contingent upon) the proper match between the leader’s style and the degree to which
the situation gives control to the leader. (Fiedler’s model assumes that an individual’s
leadership style is fixed.)
Contingency dimensions:
 Leader-member relations - the degree of confidence, trust, and respect members
have in their leader.
 Task structure - the degree to which the job assignments are procedural (step by
step).
 Position power - the degree of influence a leader has over power variables such
as hiring, firing, discipline, promotions, and salary increases.
Situational leadership theory (SLT) is a contingency theory that focuses on the
followers.
Successful leadership is achieved by selecting the right leadership style, which is
contingent on the level of the followers’ readiness.
 If followers are unable and unwilling to do a task, the leader needs to give clear
and specific directions.
 If they are unable but willing, the leader needs to display high task orientation
to compensate for followers’ lack of ability and high relationship orientation to
get them to “buy into” the leader’s desires.
 Conversely, if followers are able but unwilling, the leader needs to use a
supportive and participative style (be along, be with them).
 If they are both able and willing, the leader doesn’t need to do much.
Path-goal theory (developed by Robert House)
It is a contingency model of leadership that extracts key elements from the Ohio State
leadership research on initiating structure and consideration and the expectancy theory
of motivation.
The term “path-goal” is derived from the belief that effective leaders clarify (remove
the obstacles) the path to help their followers achieve their work goals.